2025 Survey: Rewards or regrets? Unpacking the 2025 wellness loyalty gap

Client loyalty can make or break a wellness business. But in 2025, salons, medspas, fitness studios, and spas have struggled to retain even their most devoted guests. To understand why, Zenoti surveyed both business providers and their clients to uncover the hidden disconnects.

The results point to a critical need: closing the gap between what clients expect and what businesses actually deliver, especially during financially challenging times.

The data is clear: it's time for smarter retention strategies. Every lost loyal client is more than just a missed visit. It's a missed opportunity for long-term revenue, and in today's economy, retention is essential.

Nearly half of wellness providers said they lost long-time clients in 2025, and most of those departures came as a surprise. Providers believed about 60% of those who left were loyal and unlikely to go elsewhere.

These unexpected losses hit hard, with 95% of providers who lost clients saying it hurt their bottom line and 11% calling it highly damaging. Data from Zenoti's 2025 Beauty and Wellness Benchmarking Report backs this up: 42% of repeat clients generate 80% of sales. And while one-time visitors make up the majority (58%), they only account for 20% of revenue. Clearly, loyal clients are the lifeblood of the business.

Digital tools are another key differentiator. Nearly all medspa clients (97%) and 80% of salon or spa guests now expect mobile booking. Businesses that have embraced online scheduling report smoother operations and better staff utilization, showing that convenience plays a direct role in keeping clients loyal.

With overall guest visits down 1% in 2024 and new guest visits down 9%, the market is contracting. That makes every loyal client even more valuable. When fewer people are walking through the door, holding on to the ones you already have becomes a survival strategy, not just a growth plan.

Many providers are responding with targeted tactics:

So why to clients really leave wellness businesses? According to our data, salon, spa, medspa, and wellness clients are making tough decisions based on value, personalization, and price.

Sixty-four percent of clients said they left a business they liked because prices went up. Cost increases were the leading cause of churn across all generations, but especially among Gen X (73%) and Millennials (65%).

Across all age groups, the desire for personalization stood out. Nearly three in four (73%) clients said they'd be willing to pay more for customized services, and 43% would pay up to 10% extra. Businesses that deliver a more tailored guest experience may have an edge, even when prices rise.

For Gen Z, price matters in salons and spas, but so does the hunt for a better deal:

Clients may leave, but that doesn't mean they're gone for good. Many are just waiting for the right reason to come back.

Overall, 42% of clients had returned to a wellness business they had previously stopped visiting. Millennials were the most likely to return at 44%. Wellness clients most often came back due to a deal (44%) or simply because they missed the service or provider (33%). This tracks with the fact that 38% of clients thought of a past or current wellness provider as a personal friend.

Among clients who haven't returned to a business they left, 56% said a loyalty reward would make them come back, 46% would be swayed by a one-time discount, and 45% pointed to new or upgraded services.

Clients also shared what would make them more likely to keep returning to the same wellness business in the first place. At the top of the list was a loyalty program (70%), followed by providers remembering personal preferences (52%). Gen Z showed the strongest response to this reward system, with 73% saying it would motivate a return, which is slightly higher than both millennials and Gen X (each at 70%).

Apologies also matter, especially for younger clients. Nearly half of Gen Z (48%) said they would value an apology or accountability when something goes wrong. That compares to 43% of millennials, 33% of Gen X, and just 24% of baby boomers.

Loyalty has always been the key to sustainable growth. But in 2025, it's also the key to survival. As costs rise and foot traffic falls, businesses that invest in retention — through digital tools, rewards programs, and personal connections — are the ones that will thrive. The loyalty gap is real, but so are the opportunities to close it.

Zenoti surveyed 1,010 Americans to examine client loyalty challenges in 2025, focusing on medspas, salons, fitness studios, and wellness businesses. Of the respondents, 79% were clients who had recently or currently frequented these businesses, while 21% were business owners or staff. Data was collected in September 2025.

Zenoti provides an all-in-one, cloud-based software solution that empowers salons, spas, medspas, barbershops, and fitness studios to seamlessly manage every aspect of the business in a comprehensive mobile solution.

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